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{{Infobox artist
| image = Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2004-0413-501, Prof. Jakob Wilhelm Hauer.jpg
| birth_name = Jakob Wilhelm Hauer
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1881|04|04|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|02|18|1881|04|04|df=yes}}
}}
{{German Faith Movement}}

'''Jakob Wilhelm Hauer''' (4 April 1881 in [[Ditzingen]], [[Württemberg]] – 18 February 1962 in [[Tübingen]]) was a German [[Indology|Indologist]] and [[religious studies]] writer. He was the founder of the [[German Faith Movement]].

==Biography==
Initially trained in the family trade as a [[plasterer]], he entered the [[Basel Mission|missionary schoo]]l at [[Basel]] in 1900 and served as a missionary in [[British India]] from 1907 to 1911.<ref name=Kirchenlexikon>{{BBKL|h/hauer_w|band=2|autor=Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz|artikel=Hauer, Jakob Wilhelm|spalten=593-594}}</ref> His time in India and his study of indigenous religions saw him lose faith in [[Christianity]] and instead he returned to his studies, reading religious studies and [[Sanskrit]] at a doctorate level at the [[University of Oxford]] and the [[University of Tübingen]], before going on to teach at the [[University of Marburg]] (1925) and Tübingen itself (1927).<ref name=Kirchenlexikon/> Under his tutelage religious studies at Tübingen became increasingly close to [[Nazism]] and by 1940 he was heading up an '[[Aryan]] Seminar'.<ref>[http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~religion/vereinigungen/dvrg/dvrg2001_junginger.html The Study of Religion under the Impact of National Socialism]</ref>

In 1920 he formed the ''Bund der Köngener'', a youth movement that grew out of groups of [[Protestantism|Protestant]] [[Bible]] circles who had come into contact with the [[Wandervogel]] tendency. Initially little more than a more organized version of the Wandervogel, the Bund, which was for a time led by [[Rudolf Otto]], became attracted to the ideals of the [[Völkisch movement]], especially as Hauer began to move more towards developing his own religion.<ref>Hans-Christian Brandenburg & Rudolf Daur, ''Die Brücke zu Köngen. Fünfzig Jahre Bund der Köngener'', Stuttgart, 1970</ref>

Hauer began to look into his own forms of religion in 1927 when he set up the ''Religiöser Menschheitsbund'', which aimed for a greater unity amongst Germany's faiths towards common goals.<ref name=Kirchenlexikon/> He joined with [[Ernst Graf zu Reventlow]] in this endeavour and in 1934 founded the German Faith Movement (''[[Deutsche Glaubensbewegung]]''), which combined a number of existing communities in a Völkisch faith influenced by [[Hinduism]].<ref name=Kirchenlexikon/> Hauer's admiration for Hinduism centred on the [[Bhagavad Gita]], to which he had been particularly drawn. He described it as "a work of imperishable significance", arguing that it called on people to "master the riddle of life". By July 1934 the religion had been ratified as Hauer celebrated his first wedding without other clergy.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,747547,00.html Pagans and Gags] from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''</ref>

It had initially been hoped that it might be adopted as the state religion of the [[Third Reich]] but this did not happen and as it began to decline Hauer left in 1936. Hauer remained close to the Nazis however. He became a member of the [[NSDAP]] in 1937 and liked to portray the [[German Faith Movement]] as the true religious expression of Nazism. He expected members of the movement to work together with Catholics and Protestants.<ref name="Blamires">C.P. Blamires, ''World Fascism - A Historical Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, 2006, p. 299</ref> He wrote to [[Heinrich Himmler]] immediately after [[Rudolf Hess]]' flight to Scotland, denouncing Hess for his supposed adherence to [[anthroposophy]], an esoteric philosophy which Hauer felt was at odds with his own occult vision.<ref>Uwe Werner, [http://www.defendingsteiner.com/pers/Hess.php Was Rudolf Hess an Anthroposophist?]</ref>

In later years Hauer would seek not only to distance himself from the Nazis but also to portray himself as an anthroposophist. In 1935, however, he wrote that:

<blockquote>every undertaking and activity of anthroposophy necessarily arises out of the Anthroposophical world view. The anthroposophical world view is in the most important points directly opposed to National Socialism. Therefore, schools which are built out of the anthroposophical world view and led by anthroposophists mean danger to true German education.<ref>Uwe Werner, [http://www.waldorfanswers.com/AnthroposophyDuringNaziTimes.htm#3 Anthroposophy in the Time of Nazi Germany]</ref></blockquote>

Hauer was removed from his university position after World War II and was [[internment|interned]] from 1945 to 1949.<ref name="Blamires"/> He continued to agitate for his own religion, forming the ''Arbeitsgemeinschaft für freie Religionsforschung und Philosophie'' in 1947 and the ''Freie Akademie'' in 1955.<ref name=Kirchenlexikon/>

==Publications==
* 1922: ''Werden und Wesen der Anthroposophie''
* 1922: ''Die lAnfänge der Yogapraxis im alten Indien''
* 1932: Indiens Kampf um das Reich
* 1932: ''Der Yoga als Heilweg''
* 1934: ''Eine indo-arische Metaphysik des Kampfes und der Tat, die Bhagavadgita in neuer Sicht mit Übersetzungen''
* 1934: ''Dt. Gottschau''
* 1934: ''Was will die D.G.''
* 1937: ''Glaubensgeschichte der Indogermanen''
* 1941: ''Glaube und Blut''
* 1941: ''Religion und Rasse''
* 1950: ''Die Krise der Religion und ihre Überwindung''
* 1952: ''Glauben und Wissen''

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Karla Poewe, Irving Hexham "Jakob Wilhelm Hauer's New Religion and National Socialism", in: ''Journal of Contemporary Religion'' 20 (2005), pp. 195–215 [https://www.ucalgary.ca/~kpoewe/PDFs/Hauer%20Paper.pdf online]
* James Webb, ''The Occult Establishment,'' (La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, 1976), pp. 398–401, discuss Hauer and his influence on Carl Jung.

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jakob Wilhelm Hauer}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/007275}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauer, Jakob Wilhelm}}
[[Category:1881 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Ditzingen]]
[[Category:People from the Kingdom of Württemberg]]
[[Category:German Protestant missionaries]]
[[Category:German former Christians]]
[[Category:German Modern Pagans]]
[[Category:German Indologists]]
[[Category:Nazi Party politicians]]
[[Category:Militant League for German Culture members]]
[[Category:SS personnel]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:University of Marburg faculty]]
[[Category:University of Tübingen alumni]]
[[Category:University of Tübingen faculty]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Protestant missionaries in India]]
[[Category:German expatriates in India]]
[[Category:Modern Pagan writers]]
[[Category:Founders of Modern Pagan movements]]

Jakob Wilhelm Hauer - Revision history

>JJMC89 bot III at 05:43, 19 May 2021